Secular versus Christian

In Walking on Water, L'Engle says: There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred." pg 51. What do you think of that?

Ever heard the debate about secular versus Christian music? I suppose the categorical distinctions are necessary for business purposes, but for the writer, those lines are blurred or sometimes non-existent.

I wrote a "secular" album, and it was still designated as Christian. When I asked why, I was told, "It sounded like all the songs had God in them." You can take the girl out of the church.....


So, tell me what you think!!!

The Process

In DO THE WORK, Pressfield talks about "the Process." Read it. Tell me your thoughts.

Overcoming Resistance

How do you experience resistance? To your writing, to your dreams, to your spiritual life? Talk to me.

In Do the Work, Pressfield names 6 champions on our side for overcoming resistance. Choose one and tell me how it works for you, and tie in Pressfield's ideas about it.

The Zone

Chekov said, "The thought that I ought to write, that I must write never leaves me for an instant." L'Engle talks about it, and then references Rainer Marie Rilke to say the writer must craft his/her life around this necessity. Tricky, huh? Gotta make money, right? Gotta take care of all the other stuff. But  if you look for it, you DO have time, no matter what. We tend to do what we want to do, and the artist must make sacrifices sometimes. Big bad awful sacrifices, like less TV, or less social time. The cool thing about writing songs is that once you get one going in your heart and mind, you can be "working on it" to some extent throughout many of your other activities. So people will think you're zoned out and weird - it goes with the territory. We're not really zoned out or weird (well, maybe a little), but it that's what they need to think in order for us to get a little creative space, then so be it.

Keep It Real

I love Nicole Nordeman’s forward to Walking on Water, by Madeleine L’Engle. She says, “I remembered how to write from a place that was real.” Why did she forget how to write? The same reason we forget how to color, or lose patience and fascination with it anyway…some grown-up made us trade in our box of Crayolas for a mountain of responsibilities; time consuming, stress making, creativity stifling responsibilities. That’s why we forget how to write. 

I wonder why we find the magic in the real places, the "dark moments and painful ironies"? Maybe because writing, especially songwriting, finds something of the poetry of life and makes it bearable. Writing that caters to the “market” becomes watered down and apologetic. 

L’Engle says, “In art, either as creators or as participators, we are helped to remember some of the glorious things we have forgotten, and some of the terrible things we are asked to endure…"

Writing should be brave. Go ahead. Say it. Speak your heart. Tell your truth. REMEMBER.

And you know what the bravest part is? To keep writing at all. It’s terrifying. 

That’s why I love it.

“We must work every day, whether we feel like it or not.” -L’Engle.

Write!

Someone laughed when I told them I teach songwriting. "You can't teach that," was his cynical reply, and to some extent he is correct. But then again, you can't "teach" love either. You talk about it, exemplify it, pray for it, practice it, but the ultimate gift is within, and invisible, easily imitated but impossible to fake.

Many songwriters hit on a good one now and then, and if you learn the craft, then a little talent goes a long way.

That's not what I'm after when I teach.
I want to help students find their voice as writers, to inspire them to discover their gift and then increase that gift with practice and skill.

The rewards of songwriting are great, whether you get published or not. It's always worth it to write a great song. It's always worth it to sing it to someone.

The thought that I must, that I ought to write, never leaves me for an instant." - Chekov